Since the inaugural season of MLS in 1996, the league’s teams have had a stranglehold on the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Given the difficulty of winning the tournament as a lower-league team and the inability of MLS reserve teams to enter, the USL’s plans for a new lower-division cup competition is great news for all the clubs involved.
Once upon a time, MLS had its own reserve league. That idea was abandoned in 2014 after 10 years, instead requiring the league’s teams to partner with a USL team. To keep full control of its second team, the LA Galaxy created LA Galaxy II and placed them in the USL.